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17 March celebrates Saint Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.

It has long been a hugely popular holiday featuring a vast array of parties with music, leprechauns, shamrocks, and green everywhere.

There are a number of places across the world where St Patrick’s Day has been marked in unique ways over the years. Here are some examples.

• Find out more: St Patrick's life

Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

Hot Springs in Arkansas is home to the world’s shortest St Patrick’s Day parade. The 98-feet-long Bridge Street hosts the annual parade, which began in 2003.

The parade features a wide variety of colourful characters, from Irish dancing troupes to Elvis impersonators.

Previous attractions have included the world’s shortest wedding ceremony, the self-proclaimed world’s oldest leprechaun, and a competition to find the most original kiss for a substitute Blarney Stone. The real stone can be found at Blarney Castle, near Cork, and is said to give the gift of eloquence (also known as ‘the gift of the gab’) to those who kiss it.

Montserrat

The small Caribbean island of Montserrat has been home to a sizeable Irish population since the 17th Century, and also marks St Patrick's Day - but for a different reason.

17 March is a particularly significant date in Montserrat, because on that day in 1768 there was a major revolt of enslaved people.

Although that particular event was unsuccessful, Montserrat officially abolished slavery in 1834.

St Patrick’s Day became an officially designated national holiday in Montserrat in 1985. It's celebrated with a week-long festival of independence commemorating the uprising. Monserrat's African and Irish heritages are both reflected in the celebrations, which feature kilts, steel drum bands, creole breakfasts, masked dancers, goat water stew and lots of green.

Japan

There are a number of St Patrick’s celebrations in Japan, organised by the Irish Network of Japan. They promote a cultural exchange between the two countries and include a parade in Tokyo. The Tokyo parade, along with the I Love Ireland Festival held nearby, is Asia's largest St Patrick's event.

One of the other St Patrick’s Day parades in Japan takes place at the Ise Shrine, which is dedicated to a Shinto Sun goddess.

The Japanese and Irish flags fly together and, after plenty of Irish jigs to the sound of bagpipes, the day concludes with an oyster festival.

Banwen, Wales

The tiny Welsh village of Banwen doesn’t just celebrate the day - it has laid claim to being St Patrick's birthplace!

According to members of the Banwen & District History Club in Wales, St Patrick - or, using his Welsh name, Maewyn Succat - was born in Banwen in the year AD385 (this claim is, of course, hotly disputed elsewhere.) The village hosts a parade, which finishes at a stone commemorating the saint's alleged birthplace.

Local residents walk through the streets to the St Patrick memorial, where a service of remembrance and thanksgiving is held, followed by a community tea party.

Iconic sites turn green

Some historic locations and monuments around the world have been illuminated green for St Patrick’s Day over the years, including the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Egypt’s Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx; and Victoria Falls in Zambia.

Also, since 1962, the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois, has been dyed green for the day to honour the city’s annual St Patrick’s Day Parade, which is held on the Saturday prior to or coinciding with the holiday.

Outer space

St Patrick's Day celebrations are not restricted to planet Earth! In 2013, a Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, wore green, took a photo of Ireland from space and posted a video of himself singing Danny Boy.

This followed on from another astronaut, American Cady Coleman, who in 2011 performed an Irish flute song in space to commemorate the day.

This article was published in March 2022